Runaway Cleo

Ch. 5: Make a wish?

I am sitting in the car with Cleo next to me waiting for an answer, "So, where do we start?"

She smiles warmly at me and raises her eyebrows in amusement," I was thinking we could go over to the school, where I spent the best and worst year of my life."

I smile at her and turn the car on, then begin to gently back into the street behind us.

-------

"What are we doing here exactly?" I ask when I begin to turn into the parking lot of my high school. She grabs for her book bag before looking up at me and grinning mischievously, "I was thinking we could have a little fun..."

Cleo reaches out and opens her door, slings her bag over her shoulders, and before I could even blink- she was running away.

"Wha- CLEO?!" I yelled at her quickly getting out of my side of the car and jogging after her. Unsurprisingly enough the school doors were locked. I spot her racing along the side of the main building and onto the track field. I, of course, quickly follow.

She heads to the centre of the field and plops down when she gets there. I stop at the edge of the field, watching this gorgeous angel ahead of me, imagining how different life would be without her in it.

She waves her hand at me as a gesture for me to know to walk over. I trudge forward, not knowing what I was about to go through. When I get to where she is seated I notice something in her hands but can't quite make out what it is yet. I look down on her and smirk right before sitting in front of her, mocking the way she has positioned herself on the grass.

"I have something in my hand. No matter what it is I need you to not laugh and to follow my instructions, got it?" I nod, taking in every syllable that comes out of her small mouth. She opens her hands and I notice, there lies a dandelion in perfect shape. "Just make a wish," she whispers.

I grab the flower carefully and close my eyes. I take in my surroundings, using my other 4 senses. It smells like freshly mown grass. The air tastes of insect repellent. My left hand is touching something soft, presumably dirt on the ground, and my right hand is holding a beautiful dandelion that determines my destiny in its wisps. I hear the wind blowing in the trees behind me and i  feel calm.

After taking a deep breath, I blow the flower away. "I wish for Cleo to live." Quickly, I open my eyes to watch my slim chance of serendipity wash away. I turn my head slightly to the left to see Cleo watching me.

"You're beautiful," I state knowing that I shouldn't. She immediately looks down, flustered.

"Tha-Thanks, I-it, I uhm, thanks," she says it as if she's not used to compliments. As if she's not the most beautiful girl I've ever seen.

"I believe you are the prettiest person in the world. And Cleo I need you to know that I love you so much for it. Beauty isn't from the outside only, but the inside too. You are beautiful." I smiled broadly at her reaction. She stands up and offers me a hand and begins to draw me closer in. I wrap my hand around her waist and she puts the other in her hand. We begin to rotate, and she begins singing-

"We know full well there's just time,
So is it wrong to toss this line?
If your heart was full of love,
Would you give it up?

Cause what about, what about angels?
They will come, they will go, make us
Special, oh, oh, oh"

She finishes the song and we stand there, still in dancing position, inches away from each other's faces. I begin to bow my head and rest our foreheads together.

"Cleo," I breathe out, which almost seems impossible considering I can barely breathe, "Cleo." I look her dead in the eye and smile softly, just barely lifting up the sides of my mouth. She begins to cry.

I back away slowly and hold her hands, "What's wrong, babe?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." She grabs her bag and the stem of the dandelion, then begins to walk away.

"So that's it!?" I yell from the spot she was just standing moments ago. "It wasn't. But yes, now it is. You just made my life a whole lot more complicated, Christian," she smiles broadly after that and gently shakes her head.

The shock on my face must amuse her a lot. "I'll see you at home?" She calls out to me. Home. Isn't that a nice thing to call it? I nod and she begins to go in the opposite direction.

 I guess you could say Cleo is doing what Cleo does best, running away.